ZeroWater filters. Image courtesy: ZeroWater
US Senator Tammy Baldwin will be in Wausau on Friday alongside Mayor Katie Rosenberg and Rib Mountain Town Supervisor Fred Schaefer to discuss federal funding for PFAS mitigation for both communities.
According to a press release from Baldwin’s office, the event will take place at the city’s water treatment plant on Burek Avenue at 1:30 PM. Baldwin will speak about the federal funding she secured to help the communities install long-term solutions to the problem.
PFAS are known to build up in the human body over time and can lead to health issues such as certain cancers, high cholesterol, and reproductive issues. The most commy way they enter the human body is through drinking water, though they are found in a variety of everyday products.
The City of Wausau recently announced that its long-awaited drinking water treatment plant has come online, offering a short-term solution to the PFAS, or forever chemicals, that have been found in all of the city’s drinking water wells. Similar issues have come up in other communities such as Rib Mountain and Weston, but Wausau’s situation was unique in that all of its wells tested positive for high levels of the chemicals.
The facility was supposed to come online last summer, but construction issues delayed that by nearly six months. Since the plant has come online, the city announced that the amount of PFAS in the water being supplied to residents has declined to non-detectable levels.
City leaders say that means residents can discontinue the use of the ZeroWater filters which were distributed last summer if they so choose. The filters and pitchers do not need to be returned to city hall, and residents are also welcome to continue using them as well.
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